When the going gets tougher, the tough gets going

That was indeed the spirit shown by 71 strong entourage of Dayak Bidayuh National Association, which comprised of a Chinese family of three, plus a Philipino couple.

After about one an a half hour drive from Serikin to Seluas town, accompanied by two police escort vehicles and a VIP car, we had a simple lunch in Seluas town. The lunch for our cultural troup of 10, including Pak John and myself cost RM295,000. Oooop! I miss-spelt, the prefix should be 'Rp'. Hehe.. kidding...

Pak Iskandar, the immigration officer was great. He undertook most of the formalities. He even accompanied us right up to Sebujit.

We boarded 11 longboats an hour later. It took 45 minutes to reach the furthest point upriver the boat could go, as the water level was low. Two boats, supervised by Pak John, my coordinating partner, continued the journey up to bikalan (bathing spot) at the village, ferrying our bulky goods.

After paddling using long poles, pushed and at times pulled by an assistant, for about another two hour, the boat reached the bikalan one hour later than us who continued the journey on land by foot.

All the rest continued the journey on shore on foot. As a coordinator, I had to be the last to leave Seluas, together with Pak Gunawan, the local people's representative, who is also the organisng chairman of the festival. When alighting from the boat, I had to walk faster than the rest, as I had to reach Sebujit earlier than them, to coordinate the accomodation. I slipped three times as the jungle trek was slippery. By the time I reached Sebujit village, I had finished my 1.5 litre mineral water that my wife packed for me from Kuching.

Along the way, I could see that most of our members, who are mostly elderly and office workers complained about the trek, fatigue and aching ankles.

One retired school teacher even challenged me that the information that I put in my earlier posts are incorrect: no walking. I explained to him that during my last ngabang in 2008, the boat indeed reached bikalan. There was therefore no walking. I was not in a position to determine when the water level is high or low, as the water level is not affected by tide.

Surprisingly in the evening, many of them, including my cousin Jennifer, thanked me for the trip. They had proven that they had overcome a slippery over one-hour jungle trek walk. To them it was, though tiring and painful, a victory, a success. It was an achievement that they never dreamt of.

Yes. The tough got going. We were tough.

However, I raise my hat to the 68-strong Gumbang-Tringgus group, led by Dr Patau Rubis, The Dayak Jagoi Gawai Chief, who walked for over eight hours.

Many others thought that it was a 'back to basic' journey. For the next 24 hours they were in Sebujit,the handphones 'rest in peace': so were their ears, no stress, no hectic schedule. There were no cars. There was no formalities, though in our group we had two practising lawyers, two professors, two lecturers, many teachers and several high ranking government officers.

My hope of loosing 1 kg was devastated, as delicious and appetizing food was served all the time. Kampung pork, kampung chicken, pig intestine fried with young pineapple, preserved wild boar, preserved river fish, smoked monkey, snake meat.. you name it ... you will have it, so long as it is authentic Dayak culinary.

Hospitality was beyond comparision.